Quoi de neuf: shopping in August 2018

New products, designs and ideas from around France

What’s the time, Tintin?

When Georges Remi, internationally known as Hergé, was charged with illustrating Le Petit Vingtième, a weekly youth supplement for a major Brussels newspaper of the time, little could he have known how his creation The Adventures of Tintin would enrapture the Francophone population of both his own country and neighbouring France. Or that one day his characters would adorn a range of watches...

Fans from the ages of seven to 70 have loved his adventures ever since, and so a new range of themed watches will appeal to readers of all vintages. This could be nostalgic adults keen to carry a reminder of the reporter and adventurer with them; comic book fans; or children eager to discover Tintin’s world.

The collection explores three worlds reflected in Tintin’s stories: his first investigations in the country of the Soviets (1930), the lunar adventure (1953) and then some of his cohorts, including Milou (Snowy), Professeur Tournesol and Capitaine Haddock.

Sizes range from XS to L (28 to 44 mm), in a wide range of colours. Prices start at €69 and go up €149.

Taste of summer

Auguste Fauchon was born in Calvados in 1856. After working as a street vendor in Paris he eventually opened a fine foods outlet on Place de la Madeleine.

Skip forward to today’s crowded high end épicerie landscape and the Fauchon brand still stands out as a mark of quality French produce. The flagship store was recently revamped into a gastronomic temple.

The company provides a range of fresh and dried or pre-packed foods, with many available to order online, including hampers and gift boxes.